empty those fire-tins lads!
bought a more "traditional" steel, works brilliantly. large kit i know, but it all packs pretty good in an old tea-tin and when you stuff all the empty space with fluffed jute it doesn't rattle
>>712887
I don't carry one because I can find this almost anywhere I go.
>>712914
what? how? It's beautiful. I always thought that you had to buy that shit because you had to cut down trees in order to extract it.
>>712920
it is literally in all the shoulders of pine (where the branch meets the trunk)
>>712920
Windfall pine. The part nearest the stump has this.
>>712928
yes. results may vary, but a piece with just a small amount of sap is better then no sap
I gotta try an make some amadou next time I'm out. Or at least char some tiny bracket fungus. Instant coals from 1 spark is just too convinient
>>712928
I wouldn't call them dead. They aren't dead if they are still throwing sap into the end. They are dying.
I have a jute-wrapped BIC (even if the BIC runs out of fuel, jute will still light off the sparks). And two other BICs, one in my EDC which is probably almost dead, and a mini BIC in my first aid kit.
For those of you that keep all your fire starting equipment together: aren't you more likely to lose that whole kit than to have any single piece of kit fail on you? (Which is the whole reason to have redundancies)
>>712887
That steel and stone looks heavy af, but the pencil sharpener is a great idea. I may have to do that.
>>712920
Easiest way to get fatwood is to keep an eye out for rotting stumps. You can free a good sized piece with just a couple heel kicks. Cutting around shoulders or stumps in good wood takes forever, but the fatwood will still be around long after the rest rots off.
>>712953
nah not necesaruly, you can find fatwood in wood so rotten you can pull it apart with your hands, the sap slows rotting way way way down, the tree can be basicly mulch and still have fatwood
>>712887
I hope you don't carry all your firestarting stuff in one proverbial basket!
Can anyone tell me what to look for in a piece of flint? When I was in southern England I stuffed my pockets full of the stuff, but I can't get sparks off of it to save my life.
>>712992
>That steel and stone looks heavy af,
it is, kinda, but this isnt really a lightweight hiking kit, more of a dicking around and trying new fire related things kit, so i wanna give myself some options, and i can always just take the stone out if i dont plan on doing any bowdrill although its a godsent for that
>>713011
It's not the flint that sparks, it's the steel. High carbon works best, and you want to basically scrape the steel off with the sharp edge of the flint. It helps if there's about a 60-90° angle.
>>713021
Also, it's not like ferrocerium, where you'll get tons of sparks that fly for a couple feet. You need very dry tinder or char right up in the flint, and you have to strike very, very fast.
>>713024
dunno it's relatively effortless with a bit of practice and char-cloth you can get an ember on first hit.
but you do need the char. or some fuel that ignites readily.
>>713030
>effortless
Man, maybe for you. Even when I use ferrocerium it takes me five minutes to light a lump of dryer lint.
>>713031
What kind of dryer lint, though? Cotton will catch fire faster but burn out almost instantly, synthetic will only burn with a flame present, but will burn longer (and be toxic). A mix of 75% cotton fibers and 25% synthetic fibers works pretty good, but at that point you're better off just buying tinder than separating your laundry to make it.
Char is easy. Toss something organic (carbon based/was once or is currently alive) in an altoids tin and toss it in the fire. When it's done off-gassing, all that's left is char. Best thing about this method is that every time you make a fire, you get more, so you don't run out.
>>713031
try charcloth once it's awesome
also a metal candy box full of charred punkwood would be excellent bed for ferro rod sparks.
>>712887
Clockwise from lower left:
1) 2 butane lighters
2) UST Sparkforce ferro rod
3) Waterproof match safe w/ stormproof matches
4) Magnesium fire starter
5) Glycerin / Potassium Permanganate
6) Charcloth in tin
7) Fatwood & Birch bark
8) Cattail head
Everything packs into the coffee can in upper left. All ya really need is the lighters but it's fun to play around and experiment with everything else.
>>712887
OP here, been thinking of cutting the flint and steel steel in half, and taking some leather thread and a a swivel, think it could be a pretty cool looking necklace, and the steel is pretty large anyway.
good idea or no?
>>713673
Gay? or no?
>>713751
look what website your on, what'ya think?
>>713751
Seems like a great accessory for a guy wanting to cultivate a Leather Bear look.
Or Hipster Lumberjack.
>>713751
Depends on intent. In primitive times, jewelry was all about symbology; what the shapes and materials meant to the wearer. Sounds like you're an outdoorsman and a firebug so symbologically it would suit you.
So when people ask what it is, don't say "I use this necklace to start fires"
>>713834
what would you say then?
>>713562
you are not leaving anything to chance kek
>>712887
1. Broken piece of file, with ground edge
2. Some chert
3. $1 mint tin
4. Picture wire to keep it shut while I'm charring more cotton
5. Charcloth
6. Shredded jute
>>714198
forgot pic
>>714038
>not leaving anything to chance
Like I said in my post, it's mostly to play around with and have fun. My 10 y.o. son usually builds our fires and it's good for him to practice different techniques. His favorite method of starting a fire however is with a road flare - probably my favorite too...
